鄭州英語六級培訓

　　ATLAS An Atlas is a strong man, and also a book of maps. The story of this word begins a long time ago in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods had once been a race of giants2 called Titans. The Titans fought with another group of gods called Olympians, and the Olympians won. Atlas was a Titan. He was punished for fighting be having to stand at the western end of the world, holding the sky on his head and hands, so that it would not fall on the world and smash everything.

　　After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of Atlas changed. From holding up the sky with his head and hands, he came to be thought of as holding the world on his shoulders. Mercator3, a map maker of the sixteenth century, used a picture of Atlas on the cover of a book of maps, so a book of maps came to be called an atlas.